[PHOTO: NBC]
Bryson DeChambeau is, quite simply, the man right now. He’s the man who, on Monday morning our time, saved par from a 50-metre greenside bunker shot on the 18th hole at Pinehurst No.2 to win the US Open. He’s the man who just appeared with the trophy on every New York City talk show from “Today” to the “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”. He’s the man who became $US4.3 million richer for winning his second career major. He’s also the man whose relationship status is going viral, according to the experts at Google.
Since Monday, when DeChambeau defeated Rory McIlroy by one shot, Google analytics, according to a spokesperson, has observed that the most searched question relating to the 30-year-old Californian has been: Is Bryson DeChambeau married?
The answer is no. So, the likely follow up is, “Does he have a girlfriend?” Though that was not among the top search phrases. We don’t know the answer because, despite speculation, it has not been confirmed if DeChambeau is dating anyone.
This Google chart shows the progress of Bryson DeChambeau searches from his rookie season to the present. The dotted line represents interest since he won the US Open three days ago (chart provided by Google).
What we do know is that it is a good time to be DeChambeau. The next four questions that received the most searches in relation to the LIV Golf star were: How old is Bryson DeChambeau? (He’s 30). How many majors has Bryson DeChambeau won? (Two). Where is Bryson DeChambeau from? (Raised in Modesto, California). Where does Bryson DeChambeau live? (Dallas).
DeChambeau has always been a human headline, and one of the most fascinating characters in golf. When he turned pro and joined the PGA Tour in 2016, he wore a Hogan cap and used single-length irons, prompting much curiosity. He spouted scientific theories on how to improve his golf game, was the subject of accusations of slow play, tried to drive the par-5 sixth green at Bay Hill during his 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational victory and had a memorable feud with Brooks Koepka.
Despite that, Google says search interest in DeChambeau is at an all-time high worldwide. In fact, Google Trends sports “fanalyst” Annanya Raghavan said interest in DeChambeau spiked 490 percent in the US (and 430 percent globally) since his US Open win. Fittingly, DeChambeau is also dragging the magnificent Pinehurst Resort with him, as you can see from the top searched golf terms since Sunday in the US:
- US Open golf
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Pinehurst golf course
- Golf courses near me
- Rory McIlroy
Clearly, he’s popular. So popular that, while doing the New York publicity tour, DeChambeau took 48 hours to respond to Kansas City Chiefs NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes congratulating his final-hole bunker shot on social media. The only downside to being DeChambeau is that he won’t compete for the US at the Paris Olympics in August, which was official when the Official World Golf Ranking identified the four-player men’s team would be world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, No.3 Xander Schauffele, No.5 Wyndham Clark and No.7 Collin Morikawa. DeChambeau, whose LIV Golf league does not receive OWGR points, shot up 28 places after the US Open to No.10.
“I’m playing great golf, I’m excited, but ultimately, yeah, am I frustrated and disappointed? Sure, you could absolutely say that. But I made the choices that I made and there’s consequences to that and I respect it,” DeChambeau told “The Pat McAfee Show”.
DeChambeau will return to action this week at LIV Golf Nashville at The Grove, a course designed by LIV’s commissioner, Greg Norman. It is the ninth of LIV’s 14 events for 2024.
